#8 COFFEE SHOP ART

This blog is helping me see art all around me...
but this is not what I'm writing about!!

WHERE I WENT AND WHY...

On Wednesday four of us decided to meet at Queen City Grounds for lunch and several games of bridge (cards).  We had a delightful time.  The cards and company were fun, and the coffee, tea, and lunch were yummy.  While we were playing upstairs I noticed two pieces of art for sale.  

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO...

 Queen City Grounds is open from either 7 am or 8 am and until 9 pm or 10 pm depending on the day (6 on Sunday).  It is at the corner of 10th St. and Church.  Of course we walked (though Diane took the train in from UNCC), but there are parking meters on the street and 2 hr parking in the neighborhood.  The art will be there for 3-4 more weeks.

WHAT I SAW...
While we were playing cards upstairs I noticed 2 pieces of art for sale and with an artist's explanation.  The double portrait I really liked and found intriguing.  The portrait of the young man watched over us during our games, and several of us found him just a little creepy... though he did keep us honest!

The artist, Emily Furr, is working on her MFA at UNC-Greensboro.  She originally painted the portraits in oils on a green acrylic background and then surrounded them with the red.  She finds that helps each create its own mood.  The red made the art stand out from the industrial "decor" of the coffee shop and is what drew me in to notice it.

WHAT I LEARNED AND OBSERVED...
I think displaying art in coffee shops and other public spaces is a great way for new artists to display their work, hopefully sell some.  It lets the coffee shop support local arts and change its decor regularly.  It will be fun to see something different in that space in a few weeks.

The up and down side is the casualness of the setting.  It is fun to encounter art in a casual setting and writing this blog has made me more observant to the art around me.  However the casualness makes it easy to dismiss it as decor. While I find the gallery opening scene a little pretentious, it is great to be able to talk to the artist and dig a little deeper into the meaning of the pieces.  This wasn't possible in the coffee shop.  I would have loved to find out more about the subjects and why she did the one as a double portrait, back to back.

IF MON$Y WERE NO OBJECT, WOULD I PUT IT IN MY HOUSE?....
At $400 the art was what I consider reasonable and accessible, but portraits, especially portraits of folks I don't know, are just not my taste.

WE LIKED IT SO MUCH WE BOUGHT IT...

A Rather Odd Myopic Woman Riding
Piggyback on One of Helen's Many Cats

This is as close to a portrait as we have in our art collection.  A lithograph by Theodore Geisel (Dr Seuss), we purchased it in Sedona, Arizona.  I had wanted to add a nude to our collection, and as I often write rhymed stories for my granddaughters, I sometimes see myself as a frustrated (and not nearly as talented!) Dr. Seuss.  This piece fit me perfectly!  During a writing class I even wrote a poem in Seussian rhyme with MY story of how the piece came to be.

If you are going blind trying to read this and are curious,
ask next time you're at my house!